Plaats-Maken: Inspiration conference and farewell ceremony

On Thursday, May 30, Eindhoven365 and Eindhoven247 organized the conference Plaats-Maken (place making), in honor of the departure of former managing directors Eric Boselie and Peter Kentie. With inspirational sessions by fellow city marketing professionals and the introduction of Roland Kleve as the new managing director of Eindhoven Marketing, the day was entirely dedicated to ‘place making.’

Place making in action

We started the inspiration congress with talks from keynote speakers in the field of placemaking. How do you turn a place into a destination where people want to live, do business, work, or visit? Three experts shared their insights and experiences. Martijn Bulthuis shared the story of Leiden and New Dutch, Franc Faaij highlighted how Rotterdam Festivals boosts the city with their diverse event programming, and Heleen Huisjes inspired us with the story of how VisitBrabant connects the province.

Final words from Eric and Peter

A farewell ceremony isn't complete without some final words. Eric and Peter reflected on their careers and shared, for the last time (at least in their role as directors – we all know this probably won't be their last speeches), tips and insights about their beloved Eindhoven and the field of placemaking. As Peter Kentie described it: 12.5 years ago, Eric and he were tasked with ensuring that people no longer respond with pity when you say you're from Eindhoven, but with a genuine 'Wow!' The standing ovations the gentlemen received clearly show that this mission was successful.

Introduction of Roland Kleve

Finally, Eric and Peter made room for Roland Kleve, the new managing director of Eindhoven247, Eindhoven365, and SUOG (Foundation for Municipal Assignment Execution). After a brief introduction by Edzo Doeve, chairman of the Supervisory Board, Roland introduced himself. For those who missed it: Born and raised in Eindhoven, Roland has had an international career. He worked at Walt Disney in Paris, the International Olympic Committee in Munich, and Bobbejaanland. Upon returning to the Netherlands, he worked at the Zandvoort circuit and later at Stage Entertainment in Amsterdam. Five years ago, he returned to the south of the Netherlands as director of the Academy for Leisure & Events at Breda University of Applied Sciences. But, as everyone knows, you can take a man out of Eindhoven, but you can't take Eindhoven out of the man. Roland takes over the baton from Peter and Eric with great enthusiasm and ambition.